Zhihu's "Seven-Day Unconditional Refund" disrupts knowledge payment: Come on, let's hurt each other

On that special train to April, to the springtime, the residual heat of "NetEase Cloud Music Review" has not yet subsided; Xin Shi Xiang once again brought the "enhanced version" of " Escape from Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou " and 13 celebrity task designers on a special plane; and this time, Internet celebrity Luo Yonghao even sent 10 Weibo posts in less than 2 hours yesterday, trying to "redefine spring"...

But just when everyone was cheering for Wang Feng's "Spring", Zhihu suddenly stood up and poured cold water on the industry:

I think it’s time to cool down the one-time knowledge payment model !

The “Slowness” of Zhihu

For a slow company that has been "unable to bear the heavy responsibility" in the field of commercial monetization in recent years, Zhihu, which has been struggling for a long time but is only trying to catch up with Douban 's spiritual corner and the big marketing accounts, seems to have been "entertaining itself" all the time.

Even in March 2016, when Toutiao launched a wave of "XGC sentence-making" advertising carnival, Yidian Zixun seized the suspense of Zhihu, but Zhihu did not react; it was not until March 2017, when "NetEase Cloud Music Reviews" severely burned the eyes with a touch of " Aunt Red ", that the question-and-answer version of Zhihu Blue finally arrived.

The result is predictable.

Moreover, in 2016, Zhihu was not only unable to beat Toutiao and Yidian Zixun in advertising, but was also "defeated" by Fenda , Duoduo and Himalaya in the field of knowledge payment.

Mr. Feng just asked a question: How many people know that Zhihu Live was launched as early as May 16, 2016?

The “Fast” of Zhihu

However, recently, Zhihu, which has always been independent and behind the trend, has stood out this time and announced its support for "seven-day no-reason refund":

If you have listened to no more than 15 voices in a live broadcast and are not satisfied with them, you can get a refund within seven days after the live broadcast ends without giving any reason. If the Live session has ended, the starting point is calculated based on the purchased time.

At the same time, Zhihu has also done supporting work to prevent malicious refunds and anti-cheating.

Compared with Fenda’s “ success and failure due to WeChat” in May last year, and the “Li Xiang recommendation incident” in which Dedao colluded with Jack Ma in June; Zhihu’s cold water can be regarded as another “landmark” event in the field of knowledge payment.

Zhihu has brought the "knowledge payment" that has always been at the center of controversy down from the altar.

Of course, in the eyes of many people, Zhihu’s "seven-day no-reason refund" incident is more like sending the high-end myth and one-time deal of "knowledge payment" from the "golden house" to the "vegetable market".

Zhihu's "counterattack" may not have an impact on Fenda's "consultation (spying)" one-time charging model, but it will inevitably have great side effects on the "subscription" annual fee model of Duoduo and Himalaya; because for the latter two, the "impulse consumption" brought about by the trial listening is not enough to make up for the "regret" accumulated by users after paying and experiencing it for a period of time.

Zhihu's "seven-day no-reason refund" may not shake the foundation of Zhihu Live's small-scale "ticket-style" charging model, but it will definitely be an earthquake for "annual fee-style" charging models such as Duoduo and Himalaya.

From Zhihu's consistent "lag behind others" to this time's "latecomer first", before thinking about its fundamental reasons, let's take a look at the current "knowledge payment environment":

Fenda - providing expert services for everyone

Business model - expert consultation, one-to-one model.

Fenda, which became very popular in May 2016, created a myth of a valuation of 100 million US dollars within just twenty days of its launch. Ji Shisan was very excited for a time and even invited Luo Zhenyu and Wang Sicong to endorse Fenda.

I just never expected that Fenda, which was widely spread relying on the WeChat ecosystem , was actually banished to the cold palace for more than 40 days because of WeChat’s "imperial edict". After the revision, Fenda became deserted for a while and has been struggling on the brink of death.

After repeated revisions, Fenda finally regained some of its original feel in the latest V2.0 version: from the original celebrity Q&A to the "Quick Question" that was launched in the latest version, and the "Small Talk" function that has been the lifeline of Fenda for a long time.

Generally speaking, the revised Fenda finally resembles its former self, but it is not difficult to see that Fenda is actually an O2O life consulting service with a social touch; it also includes some of the low-cost and high-frequency practical knowledge training content of Zhihu Live.

Get - study hard and want to go to school every day

Business model - column subscription, annual fee-based social journal.

For " Luoji Siwei ", which was also incubated from the WeChat community , Duode was launched at the end of 2015. However, it was not until Fenda became a hit and Luo Zhenyu became the spokesperson for Fenda that Luo Zhenyu seemed to have found the positioning of Duode.

It is inevitable that Luo Zhenyu is using the momentum of Fenda to fan the flames of "Dedao"; but we don't know whether Luo Zhenyu has the restraint to launch "Dedao" after "Fenda" and let Fenda be the first to come out.

Therefore, less than a month later, Luo Zhenyu took advantage of Jack Ma's blessing and the rapid development of "Li Xiang's Business Insider" to soar to fame; now it has expanded from the previous 18 Arhats to the current 24 Billies (including Luo Zhenyu).

Although it is not known whether Luo Zhenyu is not optimistic about the financial prospects of "Get", Luo Pang, who has always been a "middleman" of knowledge, is ambivalent about "Get" and has begun to dabble in the entertainment variety show " U Can U Bibi " and his old business " Long Talk ".

Himalaya - Listen and See the Truth

Business model: Album subscription, annual fee-based journal.

Himalaya’s business model is nothing more than a replica of “Get”, except that unlike the restraint and aloofness of “Get”, Himalaya positioned itself as a “topical album” from the beginning.

Compared with the 24 paid columns that Dedao has had so far, Himalaya has already summoned a group of eccentrics such as the topical figure Ma Dong and the brain king group of The Brain; of course, compared with the active invitations from Dedao, the threshold for Himalaya to open courses is lower.

In addition, it is indeed correct to say that Himalaya is a hodgepodge; in addition to the column model similar to Dedao, Himalaya has also opened its own question-and-answer channel similar to Sina Q&A, referring to Fenda .

Therefore, compared to Getui, which only serves a certain group of people, Himalaya also offers many knowledge training, emotional and entertainment programs.

Zhihu Live——A new possibility for knowledge payment

Business model - Lecture Room, ticket-style admission.

As for Zhihu, it was actually one of the earliest ones to get involved in paid knowledge.

We can ignore the earlier Duode for now, until Fenda officially ignited the bonus window of knowledge payment, Duode officially reaped the "sacrificial" value of Fenda.

Considering the fact that Zhihu Live was also launched in May, at that time Fenda had just ignited the dividends of knowledge payment, and Duoduo had not yet had time to reap the aftermath of Fenda; but Zhihu's own arrogance made it miss this period.

It inherits Zhihu's consistent tone and relatively professional content system, and some of its contents are operational and implementable. Compared with the columns in Zhihu Live, Zhihu Live's system is weaker and more inclined to the more basic "ability popularization". Compared with Himalaya, its entertainment value is weaker.

Therefore, Zhihu, which does not stand out in any aspect, is in an extremely embarrassing situation.

Therefore, when the Zhihu Live product itself has no "overwhelming advantage" compared to Duoduo, Fenda and even Himalaya, whether Zhihu has considered this is a defect of the Zhihu Live product itself: relying on the "high-end and cutting-edge" Zhihu platform, Zhihu Live does not have enough main content to attract users like Fenda, nor does it have the same personal self-media endorsement as Duoduo, or the same entertainment openness as Himalaya.

So this time, Zhihu "either remained silent or made a stunning debut"; in the name of #people # it discussed with everyone the new possibilities of knowledge payment, and took the lead in firing the first shot against the "one-time deal of knowledge payment"; rather than being a "dimensionality reduction strike" that was well planned, it was more of a "fight to the death" that attempted to turn the tide.

Summarize

• "Get" ignited the "torch" of knowledge payment;
• Then Fenda used its own question-and-answer model to ignite the entire self-media community;
• Then, Ximalaya took advantage of the world and started to create the "123 Knowledge Carnival" with its huge fan base, officially turning the knowledge payment market of rogue platforms such as Fenda, high-end platforms such as Dedao, and obscure platforms such as Zhihu into e-commerce ;
• Finally, Zhihu Live ’s sudden attack will inevitably subvert industry rules.

Zhihu has raised the revolutionary banner of "seven-day no-questions-asked refund" and taken the lead in turning the one-time knowledge payment transaction into a Taobao , JD.com , or even a vegetable market-style "refund if not satisfied" carnival.

As smart as Zhihu is, it finally got the first drop of blood in the field of knowledge payment, even if this drop of blood was originally on the road of "strangling knowledge payment".

The significance of Zhihu's behavior of disrupting the "industry order" this time is naturally self-evident.

Before making a judgment, let's take a look at the current status of several paid knowledge endorsement products:

1. Fenda has never recovered from the shock of being used as a warning by WeChat. Even though the latest version of “Quick Question” has cautiously followed the old path of Fenda, Fenda is still restrained; it is afraid that it will accidentally touch the sensitive nerves of WeChat, especially at the moment when WeChat payment is still pending.
2. As the leading brand in the field of paid knowledge, Dedao has firmly taken the top spot; however, Dedao's column subscription model has limited its business expansion. Therefore, Luo Zhenyu's "euthanasia" of "Luoji Siwei" All-in "Dedao App" is probably to expand new channels for "Luoji Siwei". Therefore, it is inevitable that Luo Zhenyu climbed into the entertainment industry and returned to his old business;
3. Himalaya is probably the least famous and most low-key business model among the four, but it has made a lot of money without making a fuss. After all, it has integrated the business models of Fenda, Get, and Zhihu, turning itself into a hodgepodge, but this hodgepodge is "complementary" to the entertainment of Himalaya itself.
4. For Zhihu, a pioneer in knowledge payment, which ended up having to stab itself in the back in order to gain a reputation in the knowledge payment field, its fate is miserable enough; but it is precisely because it realized how miserable it was that it thought of reforming the entire "knowledge payment market". Although this approach may seem a bit ugly, it is definitely a paradise for users.

Although in most people's opinion:

Zhihu's "seven-day no-reason refund" has a certain "rogue" flavor; if I can't get you (the knowledge payment bonus), I will kill you. Even if I can't kill you, it's pretty good to make you "annoyed".

However, Zhihu dared to stand up and become the maker of new rules for "knowledge payment" despite the risks of being ambushed by Fenda, Duoduo, and Himalaya. It is also very good that it can give users "regret medicine" from the perspective of users and cool down the excessive payment posture.

However, for Luo Zhenyu, who has gained both fame and fortune in the field of knowledge payment, Fenda Ji Shisan, who has been struggling on the edge of Resident Evil, or Himalaya, which has been making a fortune in silence, Zhihu can be said to have broken the previous peaceful rules of the game .

Of course, we have to mention here Douban Time , Moore Finance, Sina Q&A, Titanium Media and 36Kr, all of which want to get a piece of the pie in the knowledge payment field...

Finally, the WeChat payment that is ready to use must also be "eager"!

What a spectacular scene of heroes fighting in Zhuolu.

However, Zhihu's pioneering "revolution" in knowledge payment will inevitably have a destructive impact on the current high-end and high-heat knowledge payment ecosystem, and more "conventions" will be completely overturned.

Overall, although Zhihu’s “seven-day no-reason refund” is a bit damaging to the “high-tech” route of knowledge payment, it will definitely be of some benefit to the “long-tail strategy” of knowledge payment.

For Zhihu paying users , this is obviously a hundred benefits with no harm.

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